The White House said in a statement on Saturday that Trump was deploying the Guardsmen to "address the lawlessness that has been allowed to fester" in California. Gov. Gavin Newsom objected to the move and said in a post on X that the move from the Republican president was "purposefully inflammatory and will only escalate tensions."
Members of the California National Guard arrived in Downtown Los Angeles shortly before 4 a.m. local time on Sunday morning, with some vehicles stopping in front of the Hall of Justice, which is next to City Hall. The Trump administration has deployed the California National Guard in response to protests in Los Angeles that began Friday evening over immigration enforcement operations, which resulted in some clashes between demonstrators and authorities, the White House said in a statement.
National Guard members arrived in Los Angeles on Sunday morning after President Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum taking command of 2,000 guard members to quell anti-ICE protests in the city. Protests broke out in Los Angeles on Friday in response to a wave of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids targeting illegal immigrants. Violence escalated on Saturday, prompting Trump to sign the memorandum and deploy guard members to the city.